Auburn man’s Volt will travel area roads

Published 8:18 am, Monday, February 28, 2011

One of first Chevrolet Volts ordered by an area driver will soon be on the road.

Dennis R. Shorkey, 59, of Auburn, plans to start driving his electric car either today or Tuesday. He will get the first Volt received by Garber Chevrolet in Midland.

Last week at Garber, Shorkey saw the car he ordered in mid-December. It is the first Volt delivered in the Midland-Saginaw-Bay City area, said Kevin I. Parker, Garber Chevrolet general manager and managing partner.

Awaiting his Volt, Shorkey was pleased when he recently drove one at Millington in Tuscola County.

Earlier, GM Tech Center employees he talked with at union meetings praised the Volt’s engineering. That helped Shorkey decide to order a Volt before he’d been behind the wheel and before Motor Trend magazine named the Volt its 2011 Car of the Year.

Shorkey is a tool and die maker at Nexteer Automotive, a steering and driveline business. He earlier worked for GM. And he’s familiar with lithium-ion batteries like the Volt’s. They are used in the radio-controlled airplanes he flies as a hobby.

He said he is “kind of into technology” and that the Volt’s capabilities match up with his commuting needs.

After its battery is charged at Shorkey’s home, the Volt should need little or no help from its range-extending, gasoline-powered generator during his nearly 50-mile round trip on relatively flat highway between his home and job, he said.

His wife, Marie, also will drive the Volt to and from Delta College classes.

GM says most people can commute for about $1.50 of electricity per day in a Volt. The carmaker says the battery can be fully charged in approximately 10 hours, depending on the climate, with a 120-volt household line or in as little as four hours with a dedicated 240-volt line. And for most drivers, that commuting can be done free of tailpipe emissions.

Shorkey plans to have 240-volt charging capabiity at his home. Consumers Energy is offering 2,500 participants up to $2,500 reimbursement to help cover cost of a charging station.

He is looking forward to using his smartphone to start the Volt’s heating and cooling before entering the car and also to get information, such as the car’s level of charging.

Thanks to its generator powered by premium gasoline, the hatchback can make long trips without being plugged in to recharge the battery. But Shorkey isn’t planning to drive it across the United States.

The Volt’s initial price “is probably a little high,” he said. But “I’m sure it’s going to be a great car,” with advantages when gasoline is costly, he said.

“It’s kind of like the first car I’ve purchased that can almost pay for itself” — using lower-cost electricity instead of relying only on gasoline, he said.

A Volt’s base price is $40,280, but buyers can get a $7,500 federal tax credit. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., has been trying to get lawmakers to change that tax credit to a faster rebate.

Customers will be able to lease Volts, making them more affordable for some motorists, Parker said.

Garber Chevrolet is awaiting a Volt it ordered as a demonstrator that prospective buyers can drive. Parker said it probably will be shipped to the dealership in April.

Interest in the Volt is bringing people into the dealership, and Parker said he expects the demonstrator car “will create more buzz.”

The four-passenger Volt is almost four inches shorter than a five-passenger Chevy Cruze and almost 15 inches shorter than a five-passenger Chevy Malibu. The Volt’s interior size is close to the Cruze’s and a little smaller than the Malibu’s, Parker said.